In Motion

First off, let me say I'm glad to be back with the hubs and doggy. Being away from them for a month has made me appreciate them all the more, and I am thankful to be reunited with them. My trip back to Malaysia was a productive, albeit tiring one. It just so happened that I had chunks of chill time alternating with chunks of hectic time, which meant that I was bored, then crazy busy, then bored, then crazy busy again. =P The first week I was back, my parents were still not out of school yet so I was pretty much left to my own devices. The second week, Ray, his girlfriend Chinnoi and Rene descended upon the house and the next 10 days went by like a whirlwind. Once they left, I had my wisdom teeth removed, so that was one week of lazing around trying not to exert myself. The final week of my stay in Kuching, Amy and Josephine and some other friends came back so I was busy meeting up with friends again once more. Then came the KL trip, where I was out practically every day trying to...

Sorry for the lack of updates on Kuching. I have priorities, like debating with my dad on every possible topic under the sun and steadily working through my "To-eat" list. In the mere three days that I've been home, I've checked char-kueh, yong tau fu, tau fu fah, satay, assam fish, pak lo duck and yam kueh and char siew pau off that list, and I'm not even halfway done yet. My super productive and efficient family members have also helped me check off many errands, like renewing my driver's licence, getting new specs and getting a dental checkup, among other things. In other words, it's been fun. =P I'm surprised at how easily I'm getting used to Malaysian weather. I can still sleep without turning on the AC, and a fan is really enough for those stiflingly humid afternoons. All this just goes to say that I definitely run cold instead of hot. Yay for a reprieve from the dry, chilly weather in Durham! Ironically, I also realized that I've f...

Brrr. Hurricane Matthew ushered in a cold spell, and I've been bundled up like nobody's business for the past few days. Even Jasmine spends most of the day hibernating, so it's not just me and my whiny self. A part of me is crying blue murder since I can't believe summer's ended. I even checked the weather forecast for the next 10 days, hoping desperately that it's going to get warmer. You can't blame me - hurricanes don't happen every day and this colder weather might just be a temporary thing. =P This week's not going to get much better, but I see a few spots of sunshine (read: >70 degrees Fahrenheit weather) next week. The last remnants of summer! I just bought some nice summer outfits on sale, so I'm still hoping for a chance to debut them. Speaking of which, end-of-season sales are the best time to shop for summer outfits. Summer clothes are really the only outfits that I should buy at this point, given that we're planning to go b...

My family (as in the Yap family) has never been big on celebrations. We don't make a big fuss out of birthdays, what more festivals like Chinese New Year. Being 80% introverts (dad's really the only true extrovert), we've always been happy to celebrate it on a tiny scale  meaning we buy the tidbits for our own consumption . =P We didn't get new clothes during Chinese New Year either, mainly because shopping during that period was a nightmare. Just to clarify, even the slightest congestion is a nightmare by our standards, and that's why we hardly ever go to malls on weekends. In addition to that, mum's philosophy was "Why limit yourself to new clothes now when we can buy them all year round?" I must say I agree with that philosophy wholeheartedly. =P Giv en how  blasé we were about CNY in Malaysia , being here in the States where CNY isn't a holiday isn't a huge deal to me. I do miss the tidbits, though, and the family. Rene's back home...

Today is my last day in Kuching after a 5-day long hiatus from my studies. Since it was for five days only, I decided that I didn't need all that much with me, and travelled really light for the first time in my entire life (ie did not check in any luggage).  I love the freedom that comes with not having to wait around baggage claim carousels. More often than not, my luggage always comes out last for some inexplicable reason. =.= I usually bring back a lot of stuff because you never know when you might need this scrunchie or that, or maybe an extra extra extra outfit. In fact, I always took care to book 15kg of check-in luggage whenever I bought flight tickets because you just never know , do you? I often end up wasting half of that weight limit, too - because I really don't pack ALL that much. Lugging heavy bags around is no fun especially when your bags don't have rollers on them. Also, after travelling to US with minimal luggage, I'm convinced that one doesn...

In approximately an hour, I will leave this place behind for a brief respite. Someone once said "A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you're taking". I don't need a vacation to someplace exotic - I just want the familiar sights, sounds and people of home. A familiar bed to sink into any time of the day, the familiar chatter of my sister, and the familiar fuss that my parents make over me. And wonderful, wonderful food . There are many things on my to-do list this holiday, including: 1) Getting a decent pair of slippers 2) Getting a decent purse 3) Wearing all the nice clothes I want to (because for the past month I've been decked in sports attire and even if I wore nice clothes, there'd be nowhere to display em) 4) Spending what's left of my book vouchers on stationery and textbooks. 5) Recharging (aka sleeping) 6) Playing with mophie AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST 7) Doing my assignments Gah if only I could just forget abo...

For CNY. Have loads of homework to do, though. So here goes. *downloads movies* Kidding. I really have to start on my homework, or else I'll be swamped when I get back. I'd REALLY love to start my holiday by doing something necessary but non-academic, but since the shops (and probably the library) are all closed, I guess I'll...have to do the academic stuff. * sigh * Now if you'll excuse me... *potters downstairs to do anything un-academic*

Remember how I said I was terribly unskilled at arts and crafts activities? Well, I think I may have exaggerated. Or maybe I'm just feeling proud of myself for creating some decent-looking stuff. Which, by my standard, is miraculous in itself. Aunty Geok Ming invited me over for some beading, so I had her entire stash to play with. Took a long time to get started because my lack of vision + poor aesthetic judgment was terribly crippling. BUT HEY, enough down-grading. You be the judge. Would you pay for these? (Please only answer if it's "yes" otherwise I will delete your comment =P) Oooooohh shiny.......

Yesterday, dad showed me the mysterious inner workings of...wait for it...the car. He's given the same lecture on basic car maintenance about 3 or 4 times previously, but I can never remember how to do all these hands on stuff. I have a terrible memory for visual stuff, and an almost non-existent ability to visualize stuff, so yeah. This time, I went out armed with a piece of paper and a pen - to sketch the various little parts that I had to take note of. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to guess how ugly my sketch was. Will my knight in shining armour just marry me quickly so I don't have to learn all these? =P ...On an entirely unrelated note, I wonder if mechanics would go for someone like me. Hmm.

This holiday is the best ever. Except for Rene, 'cause she still has classes. Heehee. That aside, she's been woken up at 7 something regularly for breakfast with her beloved sister and daddy and mummy. She hates waking up so early, but family ties have to be maintained k? I'm doing this for the good of our family. =P Mum has been watching a Korean series called "Miss Ripley Whom I Loved". Think she's finished it already, so she's moved on to listening to an audio series on Church History. Dad started her on it. Dad? He's been singing Mandarin worship songs all day every day  in an effort to learn scripture and biblical terms in Mandarin. And listening to the audio series on Church History. Still as enthusiastic as ever about learning new things at his age. He even wanted to drag me to a Praise Dance session at Good News Fellowship, but it was cancelled this Sunday. I'm having fun lazing around, finishing up my episodes of Drop Dead Diva and...

Yesterday night while I was lining up the clothes, I asked Lara to come out and accompany me. So she did, meandering around aimlessly. Nothing caught her attention but she just pottered around investigating random stuff until I was done. Once I finished lining up the clothes, she casually strolled beside me and followed me into the house again. I think she really just wanted to accompany me. <3

Do you know how terrible it is to crave some food item, knowing full well that you can't have it in the immediate future? I do. It's particularly annoying/depressing/frustrating when I'm supposed to be concentrating on my studies because it's exam season, and the only available food is cafe food. To make things worse, my roommate shares my longings and we usually end up discussing our sad, sad life instead, intensifying our depression. *sigh* It's also odd that I feel these cravings unusually strongly when I'm prepping for exams. Perhaps it's my brain protesting all that mental labour. Hmm. That, was just the long-winded introduction to how I have been indulging myself in good-sized portions of good food back home in Kuching. Had to justify my gluttony, hence the pitiful tale wrought with emotion. =P I think my tummy is bulging a little more than usual, but I'll probably lose all that fat when I get back to Nilai and have nothing but cucumbers and s...